This morning a friend of my updated their status with a haiku by Kobayashi Issa. I especially fell in love with this Finnish translation.

“This dewdrop world—
It may be a dewdrop,
And yet— and yet—”

“Tämä maailma, tämä kastepisara—
kenties se on vain kastepisara
ja kuitenkin — kuitenkin —”

-Kobayashi Issa (1763-1828)

In Buddhism, the world is seen like a dewdrop and we shouldn’t get attached to anything. In this haiku (in Japanese it follows the 5-7-5 rule that’s not present in translations) Issa explores the feelings that arose upon the death of his child. A summary by John Brandi: “[Issa] says I know the world of dew is just the world of dew, yet I feel pain, I am alive”. 2 weeks ago

I’m not making any progress on this goal. Any suggestions of a daily poem mailing list or website that I can subscribe to? 3 months ago

“If your children look up to you, you’ve made a success of life’s biggest job.”- Persian saying

“I wanted to have a voice, and it was okay if I wasn’t going to be so famous or so rich. And this the one thing I learned: How do you recognize what’s your true dream and what is the dream that you are dreaming for other people to love you? ... The difference is very easy to understand. If you enjoy the process, it’s your dream. ... If you are are enduring the process, just desperate for the result, it’s somebody else’s dream.”- Salma Hayek

“Your children may not listen to you — so you also have to be brave enough to respect their dreams.”- Salma Hayek

“What makes kids so smart? They tell you what they know and then they stop.”- Mark Twain

Life of a man…

I was born… a Woman was there to hold me – my Mother.

I grew as a child… a Woman was there to care for me & play with me – my Sister.

I went to school… a Woman was there to help me learn – my Teacher.

I became depressed whenever I lost… a woman was there to offer a shoulder – my Girlfriend.

I needed company, compatibility & love… a great Woman was there for me – my Wife.

I became tough… a Woman was there to melt me – my Daughter.

When I die… a Woman is there to absorb me in – my Motherland.

If you are a Man – Value every Woman
&
If you are a Woman, be proud of Yourself.

A map to discover my inner strenght

“Our deep desire is to be truly loved for who we are, and we are all searching for a context to make ourselves known.”- C. S. Lewis

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”- Henry David Thoreau

“Before doing, one must BE.”- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it any way you wish, but you can only spend it once.”- Miguel de Cervantes

“The main purpose of life is: To have a job in whose purpose you can believe; To have friends whose immediate purposes you can trust; To have some spot on earth to which you can return as home; To be at the same time a citizen of a larger world.”
- James A. Michener

“Life’s most urgent question is, what are you doing for others?”
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are.”
- John Gardner

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”
- Albert Einstein

“There must be more than having everything.”
- Maurice Sendak

“In the person we find the universal.”
- Walt Whitman

“Every positive value has its price in negative terms… the genius of Einstein leads to Hiroshima.”
- Pablo Picasso

“You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.”
- Winston Churchill

Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum.

“I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens.”
- Woody Allen

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.”
- J.K Rowling

“And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk even more.”
- Erica Jong, Fear of Flying

“I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more begins to make sense.”
- Harold Kushner

“Before you do anything, think. If you do something to try and impress someone, to be loved, accepted or even to get someone’s attention, stop and think. So many people are busy trying to create an image, they die in the process.”
- Salma Hayek

“There is no passion to be found in playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
- Nelson Mandela

It’s nice to have a relationship, but women have become addicted. You can have a relationship with God. With nature. With dogs. With yourself. And yes, you can also have a relationship with a man, but if it’s going to be a shitty one, it’s better to have a relationship with your flowers.
- Salma Hayek

“Life is an adventure to be lived, not a problem to be solved.”- John Keats

“Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.”
- John Lennon

Re-post (http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=174691074535 ):

In the Middle of the Ladder (by Ahmed Nour)

How would you react if you were in the middle of the road and suddenly… changes came up! Imagine yourself at a crossroads. You are to choose among a few directions, and with each decision you make, you have to sacrifice all the other alternative paths you might have had. What would you do?

This is more or less like a ladder that we climb in order to reach our aim. An aim that glows up above. We do whatever it takes to build a strong ladder. Education, experiences and many little things in our daily lives that we never pay attention to are the things that contribute in the ladder formation process. As soon as the ladder is strong enough to hold us, we start climbing with our eyes gazing at the glowing goal, thinking that nothing will stop us. Guess what! People change! And so do their visions, perspectives and definitely their goals.

It doesn’t matter how changes arise, whether the ladder snaps at its weakness point or you found another ladder that made you willingly consider letting go the one you’re climbing. Realistically speaking, the results are alike. You are in the middle of the ladder. You need to decide.

It doesn’t matter where any of the ladders might lead you, what matters; is deciding which one you’ll take. There are two cases upon which your decisions should be based:

Case 1: You want to climb the new ladder. You can see where you’re going, believing that you’ll achieve your new goal. A goal that might have been a childhood dream, a chance that you cannot possibly reject or a sheer change in the way you think. If you believe you are strong enough to start climbing a new ladder, do not hesitate. Go for it! It takes boldness and bravery to take such step. Besides, you wouldn’t want to spend the rest of your life wondering how your life would have been if you had climbed the new ladder.

Case 2: You want to stick to the old ladder because you believe that it works for you the best, no matter how high the new ladder would take you. Nothing is wrong with that, as long as the decision you make is explicitly yours and not someone else’s trying to scare you off of changes. It also takes boldness and bravery to fight against changes in our lives, and it takes a true fighter to win over them. If you are that fighter, don’t let go your ladder.

Life changes constantly. Problems come and go. You are going to come across this situation sooner or later. Your aims might change with time. What shouldn’t change is the spirit with which you climb the ladder that you chose for yourself. If you decide to change this ladder, climb the new one with the same enthusiasm. This could be hard, but your determination should be as hard. Always remember that everything is meant to happen, no matter how insignificant it may seem. There’s no doubt that nothing that could have happened is better than what is meant to be, we just don’t know it yet. Always remember that when a door closes, another million doors open. Life could be unfair sometimes… but God is always fair. 5 months ago

when in doubt I’ll go to rumi… today, Wislava Szymborska:

“Conversation with a rock”
and
“Starvation camp at Jaslo”

sublime and ridiculous all at once… 9 months ago

Another catch up session!
Been behind while my friend was visiting!

21/05 – The Hollow Men by TS Eliot
The last few lines are really famous but I’d never read the entire thing. It’s beautiful. So haunting!
We read a Scottish poem at university which ends with “this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a boke” – if anyone can tell me who wrote this/what it’s called, I’d be grateful! I can’t for the life of me remember!

22/05 – And The Moon And The Stars And The World by Charles Bukowski

23/05 – Are You Drinking? by Charles Bukowski

24/05 – I Am 25 by Gregory Corso

25/05 – Marriage by Gregory Corso
Corso is pretty much amazing.

26/05 – For Hettie by Leroi Jones

27/05 – Puedo Escribir (Tonight I Can Write) by Pablo Neruda

28/05 – A War Song to Englishmen by William Blake
I adore poetry about battles, about war, about fighting the good fight (whether inspiring, empowering or terribly disillusioned) and this is just such a great piece.

Alfred shall smile, and make his harp rejoice;
The Norman William, and the learnèd Clerk,
And Lion Heart, and black-brow’d Edward, with
His loyal queen, shall rise, and welcome us!
Prepare, prepare!

29/05 – 1861 by Walt Whitman

30/05 – “Faith” Is A Fine Invention by Emily Dickinson

31/05 – Advertisement for the Waldorf-Astoria by Langston Hughes

And that brings us to the end of the month! I might keep this up for another week or so, just to get back into the swing of posting up every day but we’re done! 12 months ago

20th May – Albert Goldbarth, “The Sciences Sing a Lullabye”
I love this.
I’ve read it before but it’s just so perfect I always return to it.

(I’ll probably be behind on the postings over the next week or so; my best friend is visiting from the UK. I will still be reading though!) 13 months ago

19th May – Ave Maria by Frank O’Hara

Mothers of America
let your kids go to the movies!
get them out of the house so they won’t know what you’re up to
it’s true that fresh air is good for the body
but what about the soul
that grows in darkness, embossed by silvery images
and when you grow old as grow old you must
they won’t hate you
they won’t criticize you they won’t know
they’ll be in some glamorous country
they first saw on a Saturday afternoon or playing hookey

they may even be grateful to you
                                                  for their first sexual experience
which only cost you a quarter
                                              and didn't upset the peaceful home
they will know where candy bars come from
                                                                    and gratuitous bags of popcorn
as gratuitous as leaving the movie before it's over
with a pleasant stranger whose apartment is in the Heaven on Earth Bldg
near the Williamsburg Bridge
                                             oh mothers you will have made the little tykes
so happy because if nobody does pick them up in the movies
they won't know the difference
                                               and if somebody does it'll be sheer gravy
and they'll have been truly entertained either way
instead of hanging around the yard
                                                     or up in their room
                                                                                   hating you
prematurely since you won't have done anything horribly mean yet
except keeping them from the darker joys
                                                                it's unforgivable the latter
so don't blame me if you won't take this advice
                                                                       and the family breaks up
and your children grow old and blind in front of a TV set
                                                                                      seeing
movies you wouldn't let them see when they were young. 13 months ago

16/05 – Brotherhood by Octavio Paz

I am a man: little do I last
and the night is enormous.
But I look up:
the stars write.
Unknowing I understand:
I too am written,
and at this very moment
someone spells me out.

LOVED IT.

17/05 – Attention Please! Attention Please! by Roald Dahl.
Been revisiting my childhood with a few poems!

18/05 – Fouke le fitz waryn by Michael Rosen 13 months ago

More catching up to do!
I picked up a book of Pablo Neruda’s poetry at the library, so I’ve been reading that for the last few days. The following poems come from Twenty Love Poems & A Song of Despair.

13/05 – Inclinado En Las Tardes (Leaning Into the Afternoons)

14/05 – Hemos Perdido Aun (We Have Lost Even)
Possibly my favourite. I just adore this.

15/05 – Te Recuerdo Como Eras (I Remember You As You Were) 13 months ago

12th May – To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell
We studied an extract from this at school but this is the first time I’ve read it right the way through.
I think it’s perfectly cheeky, full of innuendo and, by and large, it’s nothing but a massive excuse. “I could love you but you know, there just isn’t enough time!”
Maybe that’s just my reading but I do like it. I find it hilarious! 13 months ago

3/05: Edward Lear – The Quangle Wangle’s Hat
I first read this in Y5 at primary school and I wanted to reread it, well over ten years later. It’s still as perfect as I remember. I wrote a story about the Olympian Bear that won me an award in assembly :D

4/05: Allen Ginsberg – Howl (Part One)
Finally off the list!

5/05: Gregory Corso – Poets Hitchhiking On The Highway
Continuing with beat poetry, this happened to be the first poem I saw in a library book on the subject.

6/05: Phoebe Hesketh – Paint Box
A Preston poet, my favourite of hers is probably Love’s Advocate, but this was wonderful too. It makes me feel really sad, a poem about isolation and not being able to communicate yourself.

7/05: Phoebe Hesketh – Love Without Frontiers
Continuing the theme, another of Phoebe’s poems. She’s just fabulous and a fellow Preston lass!

8/05: George Hull – The Little Thatched Cottage In The Nook
After falling in love with Hesketh all over again, I started looking for more Lancashire poets. This poem by Hull absolutely blew me away. It’s a beautiful, nostalgic look back at happier times, how nothing compares to home. I adore it.

9/05 was posted up on time!

10/05: Captain James H Knight-Adkin – No Man’s Land
Written on the wall of the Victoria Cross exhibition in the Museum of Queensland, this one crept up on me. I love war poetry (Rupert Brooke anyone?) and this is just incredible. It’s so haunting.
“But No Man’s Land is a goblin sight
When patrols crawl over at dead o’ night;
Boche or British, Belgian or French,
You dice with death when you cross the trench.”

11/05: Robert Louis Stevenson – Auld Reekie
A reread, but one that contains one of the quotes I hold dearest to my heart – “Still are ye dear and dear to me Auld Reekie, on and on!”
Edinburgh is the first place I truly considered home, York being the second, and the two years I lived there were the happiest of my life. I make a point of rereading the RLS poem as much as I can, just to cheer me up and remind me of there. 13 months ago

Oops! Fallen a week behind in my postings! I have been reading though, honestly!

Here’s today’s poem. I’ve got the rest written down in my diary, so I’ll get them posted up later tonight!

‎”I have seen dawn and sunset on moors and windy hills
Coming in solemn beauty like slow old tunes of Spain:
I have seen the lady April bringing the daffodils,
Bringing the springing grass and the soft warm April rain.

I have heard the song of the blossoms and the old chant of the sea,
And seen strange lands from under the arched white sails of ships;
But the loveliest thing of beauty God ever has shown to me,
Are her voice, and her hair, and eyes, and the dear red curve of her lips.”

Beauty by John Masefield ♥ 13 months ago

2nd May – Lamp in a Window by F.Scott Fitzgerald

I am a huge Scott fan but his poetry had so far eluded me. Today I found Lamp in a Window and it’s gorgeous. His poetry might not be as wonderful as his novels and short stories (well, some of his short stories) but this one, about life with Zelda before her illness, is beautiful. It’s sad, because they truly did love each other but they were so self destructive and seemed so focused on living to excess that they destroyed their marriage on their way to destroying themselves.
The poem captures that love perfectly, the way Scott can’t believe things went the way they did, losing sight of what was important between petty arguments. I think he knew they were separated for the right reasons, but you can really feel his heartache in this. 13 months ago

1st May – Eloisa to Abelard by Alexander Pope

Absolutely heartwrenching. The story itself is tragic enough, but Pope’s poem, coming from Elosia/Eloise’s heart is just heartbreaking. I loved the way she jumped from willing Abelard to come to her to pushing him away, trying to force him from her mind. It’s an absolutely beautiful poem. 13 months ago

I’ve always read novels and prose but poetry, other than for class, has eluded me. There’s a few poems I love – Some we read in school have stuck with me, Phoebe Hesketh is a Preston poet I adore, I’m a massive Keats fan, anything by Edward Lear is a given and Shakespeare… well, he’s Shakespeare, Byron etc – but actively reading poetry isn’t something I tend to do.
So let’s change that.
I’m going to read a poem every day for the month of May and I’ll post up what I’ve read each day (or recaps if I miss a day). Suggestions would be more than welcome!
Going to avoid reading anything I’ve read before and we’ll just see how we’ll go. 13 months ago

We have lost even this twilight.
No one saw us this evening hand in hand
while the blue night dropped on the world.

I have seen from my window
the fiesta of sunset in the distant mountain tops.

Sometimes a piece of sun
burned like a coin in my hand.

I remembered you with my soul clenched
in that sadness of mine that you know.

Where were you then?
Who else was there?
Saying what?
Why will the whole of love come on me suddenly
when I am sad and feel you are far away?

The book fell that always closed at twilight
and my blue sweater rolled like a hurt dog at my feet.

Always, always you recede through the evenings
toward the twilight erasing statues. 21 months ago